Johannesburg - The families of at least three patients want to know what is going on in state hospitals, after one person died, another was covered in bruises after "falling down", and another was unable to take care of himself as a result of delayed treatment and neglect.

Engela Uys, 74, who was a lively woman from Standerton in Mpumalanga, died in the Steve Biko Academic Hospital on October 6, more than a month after she fell and broke her hip and was treated in three state hospitals.

The operation to repair her hip was never done.

Her daughter-in-law, Marjorie Uys, said on Wednesday that Ouma, as they called her, had been in the Standerton hospital for four days and was then transferred to a Witbank hospital for six days before being sent back to Standerton with kidney problems.

After another 11 days she was transferred to the Tshwane District Hospital and two days later, to the Steve Biko hospital.

There they were unable to operate on her because someone had neglected to administer her blood pressure medication and her blood pressure was too high.

On September 30, Uys still looked well but her condition deteriorated soon afterwards.

'A disaster'

A state doctor told reporters on Wednesday that Mpumalanga's orthopaedic services were "a disaster".

"The Witbank hospital has ridiculously few beds for orthopaedics and surgeons may only operate during the day. The result is frightening. People die, lose limbs and become paraplegic or permanently disabled."

Orthopaedic operations at Steve Biko in Pretoria were this month again postponed as there were problems with the cooling systems supposed to regulate operating theatre temperature.

Meanwhile, the East Rand family of Jenny Marais, 70, are furious as nurses at the Germiston hospital apparently didn't see her fall down in the hospital toilet on Saturday evening.

They found Marais, who was admitted due to low blood pressure, covered in bruises and with a wound on her forehead.

Rika van Nieuwenhuizen, a family member, said they were struggling to get answers and to understand how she could be so badly bruised from a fall.

Discharged with broken shoulder

At the same time, Joseph van Dyk, 45, a disabled man from Centurion, has been waiting more than a month for treatment after breaking his shoulder following a fall from his wheelchair on September 3.

Van Dyk was admitted to Steve Biko on September 5 and heard six days later that he needed an operation.

"I was transferred to a ward where the nurse removed the emergency button's wire because she believed I would bother them."

Nine days later, Van Dyk heard his shoulder needed to be replaced, but he was shortly afterwards released with painkillers and given an appointment for October 23. He used to be independent and able to wash himself, cook and drive, but is now dependent on others.

The Gauteng health department was investigating the Uys and Marais cases and said on Wednesday that doctors believed Van Dyk's shoulder could recover without surgery.

Mpumalanga's health department had not commented about events in their hospitals by late on Wednesday.

POLICE have offered a ďsubstantial rewardĒ for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the murderers of Plettenberg Bay couple Willie and Julie le Roux, who were shot dead execution style on their smallholding at the weekend.

Forensic experts were yesterday still combing the Le Roux home and outbuildings near Kranshoek for clues following the discovery of the bodies on Monday.

Fifty-year-old Julieís body was found on a bed in the main house and that of her 53-year-old husband, a builder in the town, was found in a chalet on the property, about 70m from the main house.

Their hands had been bound and both had been shot in the head.

The discovery of the coupleís BMW, apparently used as a getaway vehicle by the killers and abandoned in KwaNokuthula on Sunday, led to the gruesome find on Monday. The car has been moved to George for forensic analysis.

Pretoria - Less than nine months after a 1-year-old girl was taken from her parents, their 5-week-old son was also removed from their care on Thursday.

The couple live in shocking conditions at Westfort, formerly a hospital for lepers in Pretoria West.

They had been feeding, bathing and raising their baby boy in a room along with two dogs, dog pellets, scrap metal, beer bottles, cigarette boxes, rubbish, clothing, a broken two-plate stove on the floor and paraffin fumes.

Right in the middle of the room stood a baby bathtub filled with dirty water, in which the boy had been bathed earlier.

Complaints

When the Tshwane metro police and the Christian Social Board (CSB) arrived at the couple's home, they were ready to make a run for it, said metro police spokesperson, Alta Fourie, on Thursday.

This raid was organised after complaints were received about the family's appalling living conditions. There is no water, electricity or sanitation. The area is allegedly also a drug dealing hot spot.

According to Fourie, the couple's daughter was removed to a place of safety in January.

During the raid on Thursday it became clear that the couple were raising their son in the same conditions as those from which his sister had been removed.

The parents were unable to explain why their circumstances had not improved since their daughter was removed from their care.

The baby's 53-year-old grandmother said her daughter-in-law had prayed for nine years in the hopes of having a child.

"And now you come and take them away," she yelled at the metro police and CSB.

'Sodom and Gomorra'

The names of the baby's parents and grandmother are withheld in order to protect the identity of the two children.

"I don't want to stay here. Can't somebody just help us to get out of here?" said the grandmother as the CSB took her grandson.

"I don't do bad things. I don't drink. I stopped drinking, but the devil keeps coming to beat me up. It's this place. This place is Sodom and Gomorra. I want to get out of here.

"Every night before I go to sleep, I pray to the Lord and ask him to take us out of this place. When I wake up in the morning I want to burst into tears because I'm still here. I want to get out of here and be a family with my grandchildren again."

With an average of about 39 vehicles hijacked per day, keeping abreast of evolving modus operandi is key to avoiding becoming a victim.

So says Auto & General director Angelo Haggiyannes, who adds that knowledge is the first line of defence.

"Today's hijackers are enterprising and ever evolving their tactics to surprise, trick and catch their victims.
The latest tactic being used by hijackers

"Motorists must be aware of new hijacking methods so that they can lessen the chance of falling victim," he says.

The latest tactic being used by hijackers, revealed by Tracker, involves removing your licence plate from your car while parked in a parking lot.

The hijackers will wait for motorists to drive off and follow them.

The hijackers rely on the fact that motorists are unaware that their plates have been removed.

They will flash the number plates in an attempt to get the driver to stop and provide themselves an opportunity to attack.

"It's surprising the unrelenting lengths criminals will go to, but this plan is no more dubious and deceptive than any other hijacking tactic that has emerged as a trend in recent years," said Haggiyannes.

Additional tactics used by hijackers include:

Pretending to be a stranded motorist;

Faking a rear-end collision or deliberately getting involved in an accident with the victim;

Throwing an object through an open window of a vehicle - the driver will come to a sudden stop, leaving them distracted and vulnerable;

Placing sharp objects behind or in front of car tyres. A hijacker will follow the driver until they stop to change the tyre; and

Leaving an object, brick or rock in the road at night, forcing the driver to stop and check the car's wheel.

Motorists are most vulnerable when:

In front of a private residence, where 51 percent of hijackings occur;

Sitting in a parked car, for example outside a school. Statistics reveal that 10 percent of hijackings occur while motorists are sitting in their cars;

SCHOOLBOY murder accused Brent Cunningham was described yesterday as a violent trouble-maker and junior perlemoen poacher.

This emerged when Cunningham, 18, appeared in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court for a bail application following the weekend murder of Juan Matthews, 19, of Kamma Park.

Although the state opposed bail for Cunningham, of Country Village, Lorraine, he was released on R10000 bail after the court found there were no reasonable grounds to deny the application.

His bail was accompanied by stringent conditions, including 24-hour house arrest over weekends.

Cunningham handed himself over to the police on Saturday in the company of his lawyer and his father, Bluewater Bay Primary School principal Malcolm.

The investigating officer, Inspector Antoinette Erasmus, told the court Matthews had been stabbed five times in the neck, shoulder and head in Verdun Road, Kamma Park, on his way to a supermarket with two friends to buy wood for a braai.

The two had been involved in a scuffle the previous night.

Erasmus said she opposed bail for Cunningham because she suspected the Brandwag High Grade 12 pupil would interfere with state witnesses.

In response to a question from defence lawyer Alwyn Griebenow, she said: “He likes to brag and always gets involved in fights. He threatens other kids that he will shoot or stab them.

“The accused is involved in abalone gangs. His friends might intimidate the witnesses. People contacted me saying he is in the bottom rank of the gang. It is also for his own safety that he be kept in custody.”

Regarding the attack on Matthews, Griebenow put it to Erasmus that Cunningham had acted in self-defence and had strangulation marks to prove it. He said Cunningham was due to write end-of-the-year exams from October 30 and keeping him in jail was not in his best interests.

He would also plead not guilty when the trial began.

In statements from Juan’s father, Andrew, which were read out to the court by Erasmus, Cunningham was described as violent and always on the lookout for trouble. Cunningham constantly shook his head as she read the statement.